Today, I woke up a little later than usual, took a shower, and met with Vancouver friends, Taiga and new friend Chloe. We went to an Italian restaurant called, Bee House in Shibuya. They had an all you can eat menu from which we ordered margherita pizza, beef stew, and a mascarpone raisin dip. It was delicious. They had unlimited fondue with different flavours of cheese and I ate lots of vegetables! Of all the famous places I've been so far, Shibuya is definitely the easiest to get lost in, but it had the most restaurants.
Taiga and Chloe walked with me from Shibuya to Omotesando (~10 minutes), but Omotesando was not what I expected it to be at all. There were at least three blocks of giant trees lining the streets and I heard the first cicada cries since landing in Tokyo. I heard it's beautiful in December when the trees are illuminated by lights. The streets were wide, with huge designer shops every way you look! Instead of crosswalks there were pedestrian overpasses like bridges and no stoplights. The people were exceptionally dressed, so Taiga felt underdressed in just a T-shirt and shorts.
After strolling around we needed a cafe break from the heat and came across an instagram famous cafe that Chloe suggested. It was called Ralph's Coffee and connected to a designer Ralph Lauren shop. The cheapest coffee was the same price as a cheap meal so I was shocked at the prices. Even the water was perfectly flavoured with a hint of lemon.
After our short break, we walked from Omotesando to Harajuku. Just one block after the cafe, we arrived in Harajuku. I couldn't believe it was so close! You can almost see both stations. When you look left, you were in Omotesando and looked to the right, you've arrived in Harajuku.
We walked through the famous Takeshita Street to the station and said bye to Taiga. Chloe stayed with me and we explored a little bit more along the alley. However, I was under the impression it was like a network of alleys, but it was literally just one street. Even though I searched, I couldn't find any of the "street fashion" shops or "vending machine alley" that I heard about online. Maybe next time, I'll prepare in advance. There were lots of people trying to usher you down side alleys to see their "shop", but there were police warning not to follow them! I'm just glad I went on a weekday, since it wasn't nearly as busy as I'm sure it gets on the weekend.
I went back home and stopped for Udon at a small shop. Afterwards, I took a shower, got ready for bed, and tried to catch up on my blog in the Hostel lounge.
